Helicopter crash in New York: “Looked like the pilot was acting very unpredictably”

In New York a helicopter fell on a skyscraper. The helicopter crashed onto the roof of the 229-meter-high building not far from Times Square in pouring rain and low-hanging clouds, the fire department said on Monday. The pilot was killed. According to the authorities, he had attempted an emergency landing. Someone else was apparently not on board, it said.

Videos were circulating on the Internet showing emergency vehicles, but no apparent damage to the skyscraper in the Manhattan borough. The building was cleared without chaos, said chef Pedro Rodriguez. He immediately thought of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. “It’s scary when something like this happens,” he said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a fire broke out after the crash but is now under control. He has not had any reports of injuries in the high-rise. As a New Yorker, a slight trauma was retained from the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, said Cuomo. “I remember this morning all too well. As soon as you hear that an aircraft has hit a building, my mind is, I think, no different than the mind of all New Yorkers. ”More than 2,700 people were killed in the attacks by Islamist terrorists in New York.

The pilot flew for American Continental Properties for five years. He has had his license for helicopters since 2004, as the FAA announced. He has also been an instructor since last year. The last major helicopter accident occurred in New York last year. At that time, a tourist helicopter crashed into the East River and five people were killed.

According to Mayor Bill de Blasio, nothing indicates a terrorist attack. “There is no evidence that this was an act of terror”. There is also no “ongoing threat” to New Yorkers. However, the east coast metropolis may have missed an even bigger catastrophe: “That could have been a much worse incident,” said de Blasio.

“It didn’t look like a mechanical problem”

De Blasio seems to assume that the pilot of the helicopter that crashed in Manhattan is largely responsible for the crash. De Blasio told CNN that he had seen a video circulating on the Internet that showed an unpredictable flying helicopter. “It looked like the pilot was acting very unpredictably. It just didn’t look like there was a mechanical problem on his route. ”

De Blasio said it was not yet known whether the pilot had any personal problems. “It could be something personal, it could have been something that influenced his psyche or, you know, substances”. But nothing is known yet. According to initial findings, the pilot was considered experienced. Mainly he flew business people.

The route taken by the helicopter was strange. This had apparently made a U-turn on his way towards the southern tip of Manhattan and flew back over the center of the city. According to de Blasio, he would have needed a permit from La Guardia Airport for this, especially because the strictly sealed off Trump Tower is located there. “So far, and this is preliminary information, we have no indications that this pilot has asked for permission.”

“We felt the impact”

James O’Neill, one of the city’s police chiefs, reported that the helicopter had taken off not far from 34th Street. Only eleven minutes later he fell into the 54-story office building between 51st and 52nd Streets and 7th Avenues – within sight of Times Square. But no debris fell on the street. Why the pilot took off at all with the poor visibility and pouring rain is “the subject of the investigation”.

The 59-year-old Nathan Hutton works in a bank in the affected high-rise. “We felt the impact,” he told reporters. “We felt when he (the helicopter) hit the building.” That was around 1:35 pm. “We thought it was something like an earthquake.” Two minutes later, an alarm went off.